Monday, June 18, 2012

Mediocrity in Filipino films evident yet again in 2012 Manila fest

Default custodians of the already renownedly atrophied imagination
of the Filipino; that’s Big Media. In the coming major film event of
the year organised by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), the
Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) 2012, these corporate behemoths have
once again edged out the small players proving yet again that factories
and other product mills always win over the small but potentially
tasteful boutique outfits. To compete with the two edgy products of the
small players, Scenema Concept’s historical El Presidente and Quantum Films’ suspense thriller The Strangers, three big outlets — ABS-CBN, GMA, and Regal — fielded no less than six big imagination-starved productions.Most notable bottom-feeders in the heap are GMA Films’ entry Si Agimat, si Enteng Kabisote and Me and Regal Films’ Shake Rattle and Roll 14, both of which are mere regurgitations of tried and tested box office hit formulas of the past.Si Agimat sees stars Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr and Vic
Sotto reprising the same characters they played in the 2010 movie of
(almost) the same title. The 2010 version, Si Agimat at si Enteng Kabisote
(minus the “and Me” of the 2012 version) was a predictable critical
disaster but, just as predictably, was a commercial succes opening at
Number One in December of 2010 after raking in ticket sales of P31
million on its first day. The following year in 2011, Revilla and Sotto
did encores in separate films — Revilla in the special effects
extravaganza Panday 2 (a film widely criticised for being a blatant rip-off of the 2010 Hollywood blockbuster remake of Clash of the Titans) and Sotto in Enteng ng Ina Mo
along with Ai Ai de las Alas which also features the same Enteng
Kabisote character that traces its roots back to the 1980s television
sitcom Okay ka Fairy ko. This year, perhaps to get more bang out
of scrimped bucks, producers see Sotto and Revilla teaming up with Judy
Ann Santos (presumably accounting for the “and Me” part of the current
title) for that twin franchises’ latest incarnation.
The Shake Rattle and Roll (SR&R) franchise is a virtual
classic mainly for its sheer endurance as a well of box office easy
money. It is Sequel Number 14 this year (following Number 13 last year
which was also exhbited at the MMFF) and standing tall as a monument to
Filipino lack of imagination. The series started back in 1984 with
award-winning director Peque Gallaga directing most of the stories up
until the fourth instalment which was released in 1992.
Not surprising considering the selection approach applied…

The criteria in the selection of the eight entries in the
main competition, according to official auditor Alba Romeo & Co.:
50 percent commercial viability, 40 percent artistic merit, 10 percent
cultural and historical value.

In short, even if your work scores perfect in the “artistic merit”
and “cultural and historical value” departments, it will still be a
toss-up against sure-thing hits that score even a fat zero in those
aspects. That’s fair enough, considering the goal of the MMFF is to make
a bit of money itself. But for a festival that takes the name of and is
hosted by what is supposed to be the cultural capital of the nation, a
selection criteria framework rigged to allow films like SR&R and Si Agimat to get counted into the showcase can only be flawed.
Such is the state of Philippine cinema that last year, following the conclusion of the 2012 MMFF, my colleague was moved to write…

How do these filmmakers sleep at night knowing that they
are not really creating a work of art but just copies of some other
people’s work? They are not even making people think; they are not even
stirring emotions or provoking people into doing something with their
lives; they are not even inspiring young people to aspire for greatness.
What they are producing is just stuff you can discard after one use. In
short, most Philippine films are a total waste of the people’s time and
money.

Then again, perhaps there is not much in their audience that film
makers can work with. Whereas many excellent films in other countries
draw from the deep wells of their host societies’ multi-layered national
psyches, it is quite likely that Filipinos’ collective faculty for
insight simply lacks the depth to support a film industry that caters to
substance.
Indeed, it has become quite common knowledge that truly insightful
and artistic Filipinos are left no choice but to seek validation
overseas. This has already seen evidence in the Philippines’ music
industry where edgy artists are also edged out by entrenched — often
politically-backed — mainstream artists. The latter are even lobbying
hard to curtail the entry of foreign artists wanting to perform in the country in order to protect the local industry.
The same is happening in the film industry. The MMFF had, in fact,
excluded what is reportedly a very promising local film this year, as Business Mirror‘s Ricky Gallardo observes…

This early, the legion of disappointed Noranians are up
in arms in criticizing the selection committee of the MMFF for leaving
Brillante Mendoza’s Thy Womb out in the cold. The film, shot almost entirely in Tawi-Tawi, stars superstar Nora Aunor and Bembol Roco.
We reckon that what the Noranians feel is very valid. The film is
reportedly being eyed by a major international film festival for
inclusion in its main competition lineup. It will be a big slap on the
face of the organizers of the Metro Manila filmfest if the movie gets to
represent the country in Europe this August, and a bigger slap if Thy Womb wins international recognition and acclaim.

Gallardo further laments…

Come to think of it, there’s nothing new with how the
MMDA selected its official entries for this year’s filmfest—always be
nice and accommodating to whoever is mighty and powerful, whoever
controls the theatrical distributions, whoever has all the resources to
throw away and spend, let’s give it to them. Never mind those who
desperately want to uplift the rotten state of filmmaking in the country
by coming up with the most creative concepts, and those who sincerely
want to feed fresh entertainment ideas to the movie going public.
Every year, it’s the same players, the same forces, the same
strategies, the same monopolies. Indeed, people have long been sick and
tired with these pathetic patterns.

And to think, as I’ve cited before, Media holds the key to the
Filipino’s prospects for much-needed intellectual and cultural uplift.
But like every opportunity that presents itself to this wretched
society, politics, its politicians, and their patronage get in the way.